Three Faces of Shufa’ah: Land Ownership on Trial in Ningarhar

Abstract

A study of three districts in the Nangarhar Province – Qasimadad, Shahidano Meena, and Ashin in the Shinwar District; urban, semi-urban and rural districts respectively – provides an analysis of the role of Shufa’ah (customary and Islamic religious law relating to neighbouring properties) in land seizures (or ‘land grabbing’) and, by extension, in rural and urban development. In the contemporary period of rapid urbanization, the failure of the authorities and institutions charged with land management in the Jalalabad region has prompted the population to turn to informal arrangements, through Shufa’ah law and ‘land grabbing’, to resolve their conflicts. This article illustrates the contradictory implementation of the Shufa’ah neighboring-land principle by the various actors involved in processes of urbanization and urban planning.